The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1887-03-16
THE FoLtIes OF mouRNINo.
a I.rotest Against T.uneraI Is.travagance.

a Protest Against Funeral Extrnvngnncc..
A Notable Example.
The conventional period of the lying
in state" having expired, then comes the
funeral. So patent Is the folly of ex-
travagant expenditure at funerals, and
so plainly is it condemned by common
sense that we need not consider that
point at any length. But It is impossible
TO pass it by SO long as people persist M
making the occurrence of death an occa-
sion for display In truth, these funeral
pageants are inspired less by respect for
the dead than bya puerile love or pofnp
on the part Of the living. On what other
ground can they be explained
Funeral extravaganza Is no mere mod
ern folly; on the contrary, It is hoar
with antiquity, and IS endowed with
all the power and prestige of an imme-
mortal usage. Nevertheless, there is much
encouragement for its assailants, IN the
continuous fire of protest evoked by the
practice, and In such noble examples as
that recently set by the family of the
late bishop of Ripon. The coffin of this.
eminent chhrchnian was borne to the
hearse by the sons and other near relaz
tfves; only relatives and close associates
assembled at the house of mourning;
humble friends bore the coffin from the
hearse to the church, and thence to the
grave. The grave was simply adorned
with flowers and ivy, and the whole
ceremony was characterized by an ex--
treme simplicity. Aside from the value
of such an example, as n protest against
the custom of holding costly funerals,
there is beautiful less IN taught by the
use of flowers at the bishops grave.
Here is another instance of fit and
decorous funeral rites. The mother of
family having died, ;he father must needs
initiate into the solel nm mysteries of death
aud the resurrection his 5-year-old child.
Wisely he resolved that, whatever else his
teaching lacked, it should be full of Chris
tian cl1eerfulness. His child's first ac-
quaintance with death shouldhave no as
sociation with gloom and terror, so that
the outgoing of n life might seem as
natural to her as its incoming. So, in the
days intervening before the funeral, the
household life and work went on as
usual. No black rainent, no shutting
out of the bright sunbeam, no unneces-
sary change in any particular, was per-
mitted. And when the time came to
commit the body, beautiful in death, to
its last resting place, the soml,crncss of
the grave was frightened by flowers fresh
plucked from the home garden, so that
the place had no unwholesonle terror for
the little ono looking into it for the first
time with childish wonder.
The lessons conveyed by these two cere-
monies are Just what modern society
sorely needs to learn. In the chaste sim
plicity of the one and the sweet serenity
of the other is conveyed an effective re-
proof of the senseless display usually
made at funerals. Such inspiring exam
pies may, perhaps, still be few and far
between, but the very fact that there arc
even now men with sufficient moral cour-
age to stem the tide of foolish custom
gives us ground for hope that the day is
not distant when enlightened common
sense and sincere grief shall rule, instead
of imperious fashion of inlmemorial
usage.-The Forum.